Audi E-Tron S and Audi E-Tron Sportback S coming with three electric motors and up to 489bhp

Audi E-Tron S

The Audi E-Tron S and Audi E-Tron Sportback S are on the way with a trio of electric motors boosting e-tron power up to 489bhp.

It’s a year since the electric Audi e-tron went on sale in the UK, although you won’t have seen one on every corner as Audi seem to be struggling with battery supply issues.

Having delivered the e-tron to the market a year ago, officially as the e-tron 55, Audi divvied up a cheaper, less powerful, version a few months ago in the e-tron 50 to sit below the e-tron 55 and the e-tron Sportback versions with a roof from the A7, and now we’re getting a model, or models, which will sit above these – the Audi E-Tron S and Audi E-Tron Sportback S.

Thes new S models are designed to deliver a more sporty and dynamic offering than the regular e-trons, with power going up from to 423bhp with an eight second boost to 489bhp available too. Not exactly Tesla-esque power levels, but a chunk more than the e-tron 50 and e-tron 55 can muster, and enough to cut the 0-62mph to 4.5 seconds.

That extra power comes from a trio of electric motors – two at the back, one at the front – which, say Audi, is a world-first for a production EV – although they’d better get a shake-on if they’re going to beat Tesla to that claim – and that layout will deliver torque vectoring too for added dynamism.

No word yet on when the e-tron S models will arrive, or how much they will cost.